PPK Cook Book Challenge - Week 9 - Yellow Rose Recipes

This poor book has been ignored for so long. Joanna was the second author I had the honor to test for. This week and next week are crazy busy for us as hike day is quickly approaching. I thought I wouldn't get to the challenge this week. I had two food commitments this week and I was able to find recipes for both in YRR.

I have class on Tuesday nights. Each week four of us are responsible for bringing something for the rest of the class to eat. I volunteered to make sloppy Joe's. One of my class mates knows I don't eat meat, so she said she was surprised I offered to make them. I just smiled. Thankfully Joanna has her own version called Sloppy Joanna's. I made a quadruple batch so that I could feed the class. I added the optional green peppers because I like veggie content. They were a hit. Several of my classmates commented on how good they were. My instructor asked me if they were made from chicken :)

Thursday night was Dining for Women night. For this gathering I made the Wild Rice Salad. It has wild rice, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and kalamata olives. It was a simple recipe, but I had to giggle reading that she made these when the fridge was empty and she was poor. These are not inexpensive ingredients. It was simple and tasty, but I don't know if I'd spend the money on wild rice for this one. I think I'd save wild rice for other dishes.

I had some seitan cutlets left over from AVK week, so I decided to make a dish I knew I loved - the Mustard Crusted Seitan. I also slipped in another YRR recipe the as the side dish, Lemon Collards. It was a quick and satisfying dinner after my evening work out. 

Yellow Rose Recipes was written with families in mind. Most of the recipes feature easy to find ingredients, are health and easy to make. This is a wonderful cook book for anyone. The only complaint I have is that there aren't more recipes. Joanna has retired from cook book writing (for now). I hope she changes her mind, because I puffy heart her stuff.

PPK Cook Book Challenge - Week 8 - American Vegan Kitchen

This week's featured book was American Vegan Kitchen by Tamasin Noyes from Vegan Appetite. I was lucky enough to be a tester for this book. Last summer I also had the pleasure of meeting Tami and her awesome hubby Jim in Chicago last year. The book is wonderful and so are they. It's amazing how good food can forge really special friendships. This book is full of wonderful down-home style recipes. I tried a few this week that I hadn't tried before the results were fantastic (not surprising). This is another must have for your collection.

Saturday was a real treat. We had all of the kids and grandkids over. As an added bonus their (great)Grandparents were here visiting from Tucson this weekend. It was so nice to have a house full of family. To feed the crowd, I whipped out some AVK awesomeness!

21st Century Tacos served with CTates Frijoles Negros and my fideo recipe were featured for dinner. I have had this rather chunky TVP in my pantry for some time. It doesn't work well in "meatballs" and such because it want to pop out, but it was perfect for the tacos. I made a double batch and the kids were really thrilled to have some to take home. Were they good? Well, one of our guests, who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, ate 6 tacos. We garnished the tacos with shredded lettuce fresh from our garden, tomatoes, diced onions, fresh avocados, sliced olives and Daiya Cheddar.

Dessert was the very easy but very decadent Crispy Bottom Peanut Butter Pie with Chocolate Fudge Sauce. This pie is super rich. It is a peanut butter lover's dream. Active time is maybe 15 minutes? There is some freezing time, but you can throw the crust in the freezer while your making the filling. Then spread the filling in throw it in the freezer and get on with the rest of the meal. No fuss. The chocolate fudge sauce is super easy too. It can be made ahead of time and warmed up before drizzling on top. I had to add more chocolate chips to get it to the consistency I wanted. It was a bit too thin following the recipe.

Tonight we had a birthday party on my side of the family. I wanted to take a tasty, but not run of the mill appetizer for the meat eating crowd. I decided on the Stick - to - Your - Ribs Potstickers. I made a double batch because the package of wonton wrappers I bought had 50 in it. I started by making the Savory Seitan (pg. 5). I have always made this as roasts by using the slow cooker method. Today I was a bit short on time an wanted to try the baking/cutlet method. It worked out very well. I had to speed up the cooling process by putting two cutlet in the freezer so that I could get to the party while it was still going on. When I first tasted the filling, I thought it was too sweet, but after sitting for a bit and dipping in the dipping sauce, I found them quite addicting. Only 40 made it to the party and they were gone in no time. The kids were eating them 4 at a time. I love that you can make a big batch and freeze them too. The only thing I might do differently next time is use round goyoza wrappers, just a personal preference on shape. If you have the seitan made ahead of time these actually come together pretty easily. To save time I chopped the seitan cutlets in the food processor. They were the perfect "ground pork" texture.

Food Network Friday - Giada de Laurenits' Ligurian "Fish" Stew

This week's Food Network Friday was chosen by my friend Celia over at On Cardamom and Cast Iron. The following is my interpretation of Giada's Lingurian "Fish" Stew. This is a simple, rustic recipe that originally called for 1 1/2 pounds of fish.

Below is the recipe I developed for the "Fish". The kelp flakes gave it that sea-like essence.

1 - 20 oz block Wildwood Super Firm Tofu, sliced 1/4 inch thick width-wise

Marinade:
1/2 cup low sodium veggie broth
1 tablespoon Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 1/2 teaspoons kelp granules
1 clove garlic, minced

In a 9 x 13 glass baking dish, mix all of the marinade ingredients with a fork. Place tofu slices in the marinade in a single layer. Marinade for a least two hours turning half way through.

Preheat oven to 350. Bake tofu for 25 minutes, uncovered. Turn and bake for another 20 minutes until all of the marinade is absorbed and the tofu is very firm and almost dry. Cut into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch cubers. Set aside.

For the rest of the recipe I stayed pretty true to Giada's recipe. The only modification I made is that I cut the oil back to about 1 1/2 tablespoons and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of capers with the vegetables. I used Clos du Bois Chardonnay for the wine. We both loved the sauce. It was rich with tomato flavor. The carrots added a nice texture, color and flavor. We both agreed that we'd like more of the sauce, so next time we will probably double the sauce (or at least increase it by half). I think the capers really elevated the flavor of the dish.

For the bread, I found a lovely vegan ciabatta at Sprouts market. I sliced it into 1/2 inch thick slices. I made an herbed olive oil and brushed that on to both sides of the bread and baked it for about 20 minutes. I let it cook a wee bit too long, so it was super crunchy and a bit hard. I love it, but Fred said it would have been better a bit softer. It would have made an outstanding base for bruschetta as it could hold up to some liquid.

Check out Tami's wrap up off all of the participants later today at Vegan Appetite. Keep cooking my friends!!

PPK Cook Book Challenge - Week 7 - 500 Vegan Recipes

This week's book was 500 Vegan Recipes by Celine Steen and Joni Marie Newman. I am sad to say I was so busy this week, I did not give these two fab authors their due. I did manage to make 3 different recipes and I'm looking forward to trying many more. I spend many months drooling over testers' pictures and testing while this book was in the works. So I know it is going to provide me with much awesomeness.

My first selection was the Blueberry Orange Muffins. I chose this for two reasons. The first is that our orange tree is full of sweet, juicy, beautiful oranges right now. The second reason is that 3 of my girlfriends from work were coming by at 4am to make 120 breakfast burritos and they needed some awesome vegan fuel for our marathon. I didn't get a picture of the muffins, because, well, I don't find muffins particularly photogenic. The muffins were nice and light and not too sweet. There was just a hint of orange. I used frozen blueberries instead of fresh. I think they would be even better with a touch of orange zest to up the orange profile just a tad.

Next I made something that would be easy for work lunches. I love any excuse to use barley, so with those two criteria in mind, I made the Jalapeno-Lime Barley Salad. According to the book, this as the first vegan dish Joni's mom whipped up for her. It is a simple and light dish. This would be a great potluck dish for a summer outing. For my tastes it was a little on the bland side. I will probably up the jalapeno and lime next time.

Tonight I got home and realized I had only done two recipes for the week. I decided to be naughty and make dessert. I decided to make the simply lovely Coconut-Vanilla Pudding. This recipe has only a few ingredients and comes together in no time. It does require some chilling time, but active time is probably less than 10 minutes. I decided to fancy it up a bit with caramelized plantains with oranges and cinnamon. I thought the plantains would be a nice compliment to the hint of coconut. It was creamy and quite lovely. I did use vanilla hemp milk for my non-dairy milk.

Looking through the book, the recipes are well written and well organized. I love books that have a LOT of recipes. It is like when we used to get the JC Penney catalog around Christmas time. Always something to find in the pages to get you excited!!!

My Funny Valentine

I should really say my sweet Valentine. Fred donned his manly apron and made me a delicious and healthy Valentine's Day dinner. He extended out Eat Drink and Be Vegan cookbook challenge and made the Popeye Pasta. This dish is teeming with fresh spinach and garlic. I could smell the garlic from the garage when I got home. All of this was part of a flavorful and beautiful red tomato sauce. He choose a bed of quinoa fusilli pasta to finish the dish off. Now I'm strong to the finich 'cause I ates me spinach.

As a side he made the very simple and very delicious Lemon-Broiled Green Beans. I was a little worried when I saw parchment paper on the baking sheet. After all it was going under the broiler. The broiling/roasting method really brings out the subtle sweetness of the beans. They are left slightly crunchy with a little lemony tartness. They are super duper easy to make and a very nice variation for a bright change. I made the mistake of asking Fred if the recipe called for it (as I was certain it might flame up under the broiler). He gave me the big hairy eye-ball and chased me out of the kitchen. Hee hee. Sometimes I just need to let the guy go. He's really quite good in the kitchen as you can see. Hope you all had a love filled day. I know I did!

PPK Cook Book Challenge - Week 5 - Eat Drink and Be Vegan

I have been suppressed by "the man" so my computer time is very limited on my work days, so my posts are likely to be less frequent. I think I'm really going to like this book. It is new to my collection. This is my first Dreena Burton book. I'm definitely going to have to check out more. I really enjoy her easy to read recipe formats and so far I'm digging her recipes. It is always nice when recipes are pantry friendy. So far I've found hers to be so. I wasn't able to get three recipes done this week, but I did get two done and have two on deck.

Last night we had the Broccoli Cashew Teriyaki Stir Fry. Fred always loves him some stir fry, so I thought I'd throw this one into the mix. When I looked at the sauce recipe, I feared it would be too sweet for my taste. I'm very happy to report it was delicious. I love eating lots of colorful veggies and this dish delivered with the beautiful green broccoli and gorgeous red peppers. I didn't have raw cashews, so I threw in roasted ones. They made the texture nicely crunchy! This was the perfect end to a long day.

I had a craving for something sweet, but didn't want to go crazy on the sugar. I wanted a healthy sweet treat. The Super Charge Me Cookies fit the bill perfectly! They are made with oats and spelt flour. Flax provides some nice omega 3 action. I'm not a raisin fan, so I subbed currants and walnuts. There were a small amount of chocolate chips in the recipe to reign in the sweet beast in my tummy. The recipe made exactly 12 cookies. Were they good. Well they didn't last even one hour at work. Oh yes, they are soooo good. I know I'll be making these for a quick breakfast grab or a hiking treat.

Food Network Friday - Chile Relleno Burgers

This week's challenge is a recipe for Chile Relleno Burgers from Food Network Magazine. Chile Rellenos have been an obsession/addiction for me for quite some time. I no longer partake of the cheese, but in the day I went to many Mexican restaurants in search of the ultimate Chile Relleno. My love was the regular cheese stuffed variety. Not that I couldn't appreciate them stuffed with other goodies, but the true test of authentic goodness and skill of the recipe creator was reserved for the cheese only version. In my trials I had some super eggy messes, grease bombs, some with almost no chile in them (REALLY?), naked, sauced, baked, you name it.

After several years of researching, my favortie ended up hailing from a small taco shop whose employees spoke little or no English, the music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself chew and, well, lets just say it was always questionable whether they might pass health inspections. They had the perfect coating/chili/cheese ratio. Depending on who was cooking on any given day, the fried beauties would be served with a heavenly light tomato sauce. You never knew what the spice level of the chiles would be. Some days they would be very mild. The next time they would almost blow your head off. I think part of the allure was the mystery of what you were going to get that day. One thing was always consistant; they were always delicious! Ah, but I digress.

My happy relleno memories made this a must try conversion for me. The original recipe calls for beef and cheese. It is technically not relleno (stuffed). As is my often M.O., I took the liberty of modifying this one considerably to be something that would make it a bit more authentic and a lot more my own. First it was important to develop the burger itself. I had yet to develop my own burger recipe, so I figured no time like the present. The burger, while very tasty and delicious, has some textural issues, so I won't be posting the recipe. It is still a work in progress. I used the flavors of mushrooms, onion and soyrizo to give you an idea of the flavor profile. The texture is too soft, so I am going to rework it and maybe even come up with a gluten free version. I will share with you the method and maybe some day soon I can share a workable recipe. After developing the burger I used a 1/3 cup scoop and portioned out 8 scoops. Each portion was shaped into a ball and flattened between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4 " thick and 5" rounds. Then about 1 1/2 tablespoons of shredded Italian Daiya were placed on the round leaving a 1/2 inch rim around the outside. On top of that one roasted and peeled chile was placed (also leaving the 1/2" around the outside edge. Then another one of the rounds was carefully placed on top. The edges were pinched together to keep the tasty goodness safely inside. The burgers were then grilled for 6-8 minutes on each side.

While they were grilling, I sauteed a mixture of thinly sliced mushrooms, pablanos and onions seasoned with my own taco seasoning mixture. The whole shooting match was served on top of some yummy whole grain buns with fresh avocado slices and tomatoes slices. I HAVE to get the textural issues remedied, because hot damn were these tasty!

The real beauty is on the inside.

Don't forget to check out all of the other creations at Vegan Appetite!